by Roman aka jar

The angry Grey Knight Paladin is now out for auction with a fair starting price of 0.99 $ - you can get all the information to the auction here!

Happy Bidding!

PS: Many, many thanks for such nice words i did recieve over on ebay via message:

"I just wanted to say it is very refreshing to see the work of a true pro painter. Your Paladin is amazing! Wonderful work. I hope you get way more than you are asking because this piece is better that any other at twice the price. Good job and good luck to you."

by Roman aka jar

posted by roman, jarhead, kong

Hiho!

This is some kind of test now - a mixed media tutorial article, if it needs a name.and much text is always best to read when it is served with good music!

There is a good video camera flying around here at the Massive Voodoo headquarters and as i never did a video i thought it might be a good time to start. I just kept the camera running through the last couple of days while i did build up a base that i am planning for a bigger personal project and did some rough cutting. I have to say sorry for some unsharp moments as i am still not very used to the camera, i will get this fixed through practice. There will be no audio comment by myself and now comes the explanation of my so called "test":

I highly recommand to you that you read the article following connected to the visuals of the video. I try to explain everything here and answer questions here too, if there might be some. Let me know what you think about this test and if you like what i try to explain. Happy Base Building now!

This is the preview of the finished base:

1. Inspiration and MaterialI plan a true typicall Fantasy Scene which was inspired by some great 28 mm models by Red Box Games. Tre's limited Figure series are really rocking. Some of the best Fantasy miniatures i know when it comes to Character, detail and quality of the sculpt. They always call my muse even it is dark outside.

I want to explain how i do a base, how i let it flow and go, how it rises from itself by doing - without too much thinking and planning and being mad because my plan didn't work exactly the way i want - i always am the type of guy to go mad if plans are going wrong, so I just don't make them. At least not when building and creating a base as i think a base is as important as a miniature that stands on it to tell the whole truth and story behind the idea, but compared to painting it grows best from just doing it. My idea was a typical dungeon, where a group of heroes poses for a group shot. So i was in need of a dungeon. Here comes a list of material that i just put on my workbench to work with them and bring my idea to life:

Basing Material- an old Rackham white metal door- 3x the same old white metal column by Rackham- Some fine wire and little plastic by Busch (Miniature Railroad manufacter from Germany)- Gypsum parts done with Hirst Art - some wooden parts i got in my wood box- skulls by Games Workshop- some small Resin parts by Games Workshop's Basing kit- some fine piece of string stolen from my girlfriend- common earth

That's all i guess - i hope i did not forget something. If you think so after you watched the video let me know via comment here and i put it back up to the list.

2. What I did?I did start it all on another great socket by sockelmacher.de.Those are really recommanded as he brings sweet and affordable stuff to the workbench which you can fullfill every of your visions. Make sure to know that the Sockelmacher also provides special sockets, done after your wish.

First, I did put another piece of flat wood to the socket by using PVC glue to make the scene leveled up in the back. I did put the door in place with super glue, directly at the wood as i knew later on there will be much weight to keep it there. I did not center the door as a centered door looks ... uhm ... too centered and in my eyes having the door a bit too the left from the viewers eyes would help to the get a good view into the scene. Most time, when anyone of us looks at something he starts in the upper left and comes down to the lower right (just think about reading a book), that is why i work my way with such thoughts about composition of weight, height and stuff. The scene itself is still centered, but it is a cut out that you see on the base. Hope everyone can follow this explanation. I did a little sketch with my famous green colour on what i mean - here you can see it already on the finished base:

Directions to guide the viewers eye are important, starting on the upper left, going over the door to the lower right, in all these places you can see weight and dynamic that makes the base intresting. It also gives a frame to the scene wihtout being too dominant (for example only 2 heavy columns on every side). Bigger and smaller parts arranged in compostion is the key, but as this is not on the content of the first minutes of the video i now go back to ordered step by step.

Next i used many gypsum parts. I always destroy them with my gripper or a knife or even with my teeth. I slowly let it grow by putting them in place, building it all up around the door and the statues. As Hirst Art parts have a texture very often i just run them over my sandpaper if i want untextured stones or something. I guess i can say that there is no stone without damage i did as it will be an old dungeon. I simply put them in place by using super glue (be aware that this can break, if you are threating it too hard, so i would not recommand it for gaming miniature bases).

When it comes to the wall i really took my time to bring every stone in place as i like him. As i told you i have no plan for that but i try, take another stone, pick another one or even another one. Just let it rise and flow, if something breaks it breaks with a reason. The skulls have been placed in between, also the Resin Parts by GamesWorkshop have been inclued in the composition (skeleton on the viewers right and shield in the middle left). Using some wood parts to underline the directions and using the fine string to link 2 of the wooden pieces together.

After everything was build up I took some common earth and PVC glue mixed with water to bring some earth in place between the stone flags and also to hide places that are not the best. I don't try to put the exact amount of earth at some exact place - just let if flow and it will grow :)

After the i did build up the back a bit chaoticly i decided to use Magic Sculp for the gaps between the gypsum parts. I just mix it up 50/50 and it is best if you want to be fast to roll it between your fingers. It also makes the Magic Sculp warm and easier to handle. For sure you can use whatever you like here, from Milliput or even a wall of plastic card would have been a solution here. Just do it your way. I rolled the sized pieces i need, pressed them in place and just use some water to make it all flat and easy to sand with the machine.

As you can see i had much more stuff to be inspired like those by Busch, but there is no need to use it all - let it flow and go and it will grow to the base you wish for. Freedom of the mind is best if you build up a big base to fit to your miniature and to bring your miniature into the right scene.

Sanding with a machine will be the next step to make the back and side clean. This will happen in the next part of the video. Hope you enjoyed this little trip and believe me - letting it grow from itself is the best idea for a base... here comes the video, make sure to watch it in HD (720p) and again sorry for some unsharp moments as i am learning:

Let me know what you think and if this mixed medio test helps you to be inspired and rock your own projects. If you like it and want to say thanks in form of support please feel free to press the donation button here to get your city carved into the big bamboo tree.

by Roman aka jar

The time for colour has arrived again and painting spirit is floating my venes again - the sun and friends kept me away from my workbench lately and the days went by joyful with much laughter... now it is time to bring those collected energies back to the table with doing some projects.

The Rabbit Queen is soon to be finished, no not really - Still a lot to do but an end is in sight. A lot of fun to paint her.

A preview of things to come...
Many Red Box Games Miniatures in one "little" Diorama:

Something else from Wonderland Projects:

Oil Article Information
Oh dear, oh dear - this takes so long and i lose motivation sometimes, when i see that i still could do some more photos, i miss documented testings for you out there sometimes and i am still struggling to bring it all together with sense. Please stay patient, as i can see this will be one of the biggest articles ever written by my hands...

I also decided some things...
After finishing one Grey Knight of my Army - i again - lost motivation to paint much more in the same colour. This is a good sign, it doesn't make me sad as i see that an army is nothing for me, even it is small. I am a full heart Painter, so my little army try that i might have once in every year is now over, haha. I someday will write a small article about painting GK as i do have many photos, but you can see there is a lot on my 2do list.

There will be a big surprise today or tomorrow for all the Fans of Massive Voodoo TV :)

by Raffa

Posted by Raffa, Picster, Capuchin,...

Hey everyone,

some days ago i visited a very nice art exhebition called Stroke Artfair.
The exhebition was a very pleasing event and my brain got filled with inspiration again, if you have the chance to visit the event, go for it!

Anyway, there is a pretty cool music sampler they offer for free:
You can find the free download -here-

by Roman aka jar

posted by roman, jarhead, kong

The Celebration of 700 just passed by and... hey, are you kidding me?

800 Followers in the Jungle already!!!
Please know that the Preparations of the 800' Party is in Progress, but will take a while as there are many things to do at the moment connected to MV. Stay focused and visit us again as you do, many thanks so far!

by Roman aka jar

posted by roman, jarhead, kong

Just recieved this by the Wamp Champ Brett, its mainly intresting for those living in the UK ...

"Hi folks,
I wanted to pass on some information from our friends over at the basement regarding their upcoming event. Please try and attend and support the event iif you can. They are a great bunch of folks with some cracking painting and modelling skills.
cheers
Brett"Heres their info:"So FigureWorld 2011, what is it and where is it, Are two great questions I would like to give some answers to?
Lets begin with what it is, it’s a figure show hosted by The Basement forum, but we like to think its much more than that, more than just a place where people can go to buy figures, though we know that’s important to figure modeller’s where would we be without a grey army to keep the loft insulated, so Adrian spent many long hours at his computer and on bended knee and has managed to gather up quite an impressive list of traders to part you from your money, more on how to find who the traders are later. Back to FigureWorld it is somewhere to go to see all sorts of figures, from 28mm to ¼ scale garage kits done by modeller’s of all ages and skills displayed together, there’s going to be over 20 metre’s of multi layered display, that’s over 60 feet of painted and work in progress models to look at, though to be honest we aren’t bringing all those, we are hoping that the people who come will bring the odd figure with them, 3 is a good number, there’s a reason for that too… but above all that it’s a chance to be in a room with a group of people who all share the same hobby, they might not build quite the same model as you but they are all into figures, so a few people not only to chat with but who you can swap tips tricks and stories, but also to make the odd new friend and connection you never know whose going to be there and who you might meet. No stress, I don’t think the venue allows it, its like, well I will tell you the first thing I did when I looked round for the first time, I looked for Harry, Ron and Hermione… , it drains the anxieties out of you.
So where is this little bit of Utopia, well its near Peterborough, I know I know!!! Strange place for Utopia but hey that’s where it is…. The full address is well, is where you can find all sorts of other information about the show including the very important list of traders, http://www.tbfigureworld.co.uk .
Now there is one thing more I want to explain to you it concerns that 3 figures for the display comment, on the day if you display with the rest of us at least three figures one of which must be a fully finished figure the rest can be works in progress then you will be eligible for the draw for the a copy of the wonderful dwarf bust sculpted by our very own Rob Lane, pictures of which can be seen, yes you guessed it on the site above…. Now all those people coming giving one bust away would be quite long odds so there’s 30 of them up for grabs.
It just remains for me to say I am looking forward to meeting you all there, and to thank Brett for sending out this little advertisement for us.
Thanks for reading
The Basement team"

by Raffa

Posted by Raffa, Picster, Capuchin,.....

Hey everyone!!!

This time was a very special one for us... over 300 people participated in the free raffle, that's more than 3 times the participants as the 600 celebration...
The follower count also jumped up to almost 800... ahhh insane, we already think about the next miniature... or maybe we just close our eyes, cover our ears and sing uhhhhhlalalaaaaaaa! ;-)

So this time the lucky winner comes from greek:Λεωνίδας Γεωργακόπουλος

i can't even spell that name but anyway: CONGRATULATION FROM THE MASSIVE VOODOO CREW!I will send you a mail asking for your postal adress. Read you soon!

To all the other participants, good luck next time and don't be sad!
Cheers,Raffa and the Massive Voodoo Team

by Roman aka jar

posted by roman, jarhead, kong

Still i am writing on the Oil Paint article - it is really hard to catch all thoughts right and explain it in the best way i can - it's writing, rewriting, thinking, planning and re- and organising a really big article that should help everyone who is intrested in learning, exploring and improving - please be patient for some time - i not yet did reach half of the content i want to tell and explain.

Here comes inspiration again - collected by my brain and thankfully filled up from those who wrote me an Email - many thanks! Hope you enjoy those as i did...

by Der_Ben

Posted by the massive mandrill.. aka der_Ben

Hey Folks,here is my small Project for the GD in Paris last Weekend..i´m really happy about how it turned out in the end..basicly the theme was :i wanted to create a Landsknecht torn from Battle, tired, wounded..a colorfull and strong yet battle worn look...i started very late on the Project , so when i arrived early on saturday mornigat a friends house in paris the figure was still missing its banner and the left arm..i wasnt sure about what freehand to put .. the colorscheme was inspired of the "nordland- scheme" from the imperial warhammer book.. so i thought to stick to the maritime look..a friend , Victor cam up with a brilliant idea.. the COA of paris ....and its slogan fit just perfect:"Fluctuat nec mergitur"- "It is tossed by the waves, but does not sink"it was great meeting so many of you in paris,it was like a big family meeting .. with a nerdy family that seems to be not used to sunlite exposurei really want to thank all the people involved in there..Matt .. for stealing my time and giving me bitz..and the catbussVictor and Valerie for theire hospitalityand Valerie for her help and her precisenessthe italians matteo and max for the wine and biscuitvictor for a left arm and the perfect slogan....thanks to all for that wonderfull weekend..btw finally i had the luck to make a silver demon in WHFB Single

by Max aka The Maxican

Hello everybody!

The last couple of days I painted quite a lot. I restarted a wonderful bust by Pegaso. It's a mongolian warrior, casted perfectly in resin and the sculpting is just awesome. So nice to paint... I started painting it a year ago, but wasn't satisfied with the result. So I removed the paint last week and primed it again.

I painted the skin with oil colours. There were about 13 colours, which have been used to get a nice skintone with all its subtle nuances. Roman's - still to come - tutorial about working with oil colours will contain those techniques I used here.

The metal isn't finished yet as well as the beard, only the skin. I hope you like it so far.

Here's my palette with the colours I used for the skintone:

It's already some months ago I finished my latest work, a 54mm Kelt from Elite Miniaturas. It's a pity this manufacturer closed at the end of last year. It's all done in acrylics except the skin, which is painted with oil colours as I always do. It was real fun painting this one. I tried to keep it simple and in warm tones. Nearly all parts are painted with the same few colours, only in varied mixing proportions.

by Roman aka jar

by Mati

posted by Mati/lil Orang Utan/Badsmile

Hello Jungle friends of putties ! I would like to announce my next sculptig Workshop( DELUXE edition Baby !!! Wooohoooow !) . It will be held in Blumberg-Achdorf in Germany during the 25th till the 27th of November.

The workshop is called DELUXE as you will have a place to stay and get fed by some helping monkeys with all banana goodness available.

For more detailed information just follow this link --->CLICK HERE !!!

by Roman aka jar

posted by roman, jarhead, kong

Another painting class is finally organised.

We will have a stay in Hannover at the weekend of August 12th~14th 2011.

Many thanks to all the helping hands around the planning. If you are intrested in taking part in a complete weekend of colour madness and miniature painting check this link, here you can find all details needed.

Painting Class Information
More Painting classes are already in planning, also the first international classes are planned during the next weeks and months. So, i can say - the complete weekend class will be available in english soon! Please make sure you check this information first before you contact us. If you want to help organising such an event in your city please contact Peter, who helps me with the organisation of the classes. Many thanks @Peter - you can contact him via: Baphomet---at---massivevoodoo---dot---com

Sorry to all if they have to wait a moment, please bring patience - it is not easy for Apes to organise everything quick, we'll do it slow and good.

by Roman aka jar

posted by roman, jarhead, kong

I will be off for a little while I guess (not much, just some days) - i deeply fell in concentrated article writing mode and will listen to this great music for a while until i finished writing every single word down into the upcoming big Oil Paint Article(those are way too many thoughts, going loco in my brain, ay, ay, ay!!).

Here comes a little teaser for those who wait for the article to prove to myself that i am on it :)

Also I want to inform everyone waiting for a parcel coming from my direction that everything is packed just in this moment and will be sent this afternoon. I had to wait for new plastic crates to prepare a good shipping.

Finally the sun is back in our city - it was gone and the days went sad. Once in a year you see the sun rise and burn for the arrival of summer and when she already showed her might, once she has to leave for a moment it makes the heart of the wandering soul heavy. Music! I know why ancient civilization praised her as a godess :)

by Robert aka muhani

posted by robert, muhani, chimp

Ahoi!

Starting the project in 2009 with the figure of King Maulg from Artefactory (now FIGONE) and the idea of making him a Captain holding the steering wheel of his own ship and being attacked by huge tentacles, it’s actually finished and a load off my mind- the final project name is now "Frutti di Mare".

Many work-in-progress-pictures have been taken during the process - this is just one of them - it's the most important to me - the main sketch:

After a long intermission, that was finally interrupted by some virtual kicks in my ass by a friendly gorilla followed by 12 days of magic in the heart of the jungle in Augsburg, that I will never forget, it’s done.

The mission was to finish it until the Duke of Bavaria, which took place at the end of April. I would have never been able to accomplish this without the help from my friends. I will never forget! Even though everybody had to finish their own projects, I had a helping hand whenever needed. Also i want to name Kurt (Darkezekiel) and Andi (Androsch) for their helping oppinions mostly every monday during our painting session here in Graz. Additional my thanks go on and on to those who followed the project via the blog and did motivate me all the time.

About 10 hours of carefully removing 4 pounds of modelling clay from the mold, without damaging the paint, another long hours of carefully removing the mold with scalpels and tweezers … kind of delicate things: Anna (girlfriend of Roman), Anke (girlfriend of Raffa), Max the Maxican, Peter (Baphomet) and Kurt (Darkezekiel) – without your help I would have become crazy.

When time went short, Raffa (Picster) demonstrated his new handkerchief-technology to make the sail and the flag, which he also painted. The shark he sculpted can be hardly seen, because of the amount of colour I used for the water. Same to the little fishes I sculpted and Kurt painted. - Accidentally missed the opaque color for the mix of polyester resin due to the darkness on the balcony or intensely smelling resin that made me feel like a brainless zombie. Gasmask strongly recommended!

Mati helped me with the rigging during the last night without any sleep and endless patience. The night of knotting knots. He also sculpted a new pecker for the bird. He did that, while the bird was already fixed to the lantern, that itself was fixed to the ship and it looks even better than before. Magic! Many fingers of different size and shape formed the white crests on the waves - nearly everybody touched them with acrylmedium-white - so I can hardly say to whom all the fingerprints belong, but it was mainly Roman. He was already familiar with the shape of the waves as he played a big part in forming them. Max also formed one, but it was destroyed accidentally. ;-)

The Captain. I applied the base colours, basic light and shadow. Roman asked me, if he was allowed to apply a little bit of oil-colour. Sure. From then the Captain went on to a mysterious hero from outer space and Raffa. Roman also helped me with the finishing touches on the tentacles and the ship. There would not have been a ship without his motivation, inspiration, advise and friendship. Thank You!

Thank you all, who helped me finishing this.

The night before I left Augsburg, Raffa took the photos and Roman did the collages as he wanted everybody to do what he can do best. – Again it was on me to stare holes in the sky. ;-) - I hope you like this mega project - here comes the photo drop in - enjoy:

Frutti di Mare

King Maulg Artefactory, 40mm

the rest is scratchbuildand straight out of imagination

I still can't believe that it is finished and I am so happy about it. This really took away "mind energy" over the last couple of years and now I'm free - I was really happy when the "Frutti di Mare" won Best of Fantasy Master Open at the Duke of Bavaria. I never dreamed about such a thing. If you want to drop a comment, please feel invited to tell what you think of it, this project was so long in my head I really want to know what you might think of it. If you want to leave a vote or a comment over in the big voting area you can do this by clicking the 4 following collages:

Pictures of the process of building can be found by simply typing “maulg” into the search-field in the right area of site, for example you will find pictures like this one. This will lead you to some pictures in early stage and chaotic order, ending up somewhere with a basically painted ship, a converted King Maulg, some tentacles and a plan.

If you are intrested in a lot of Work in Progress photos of the last 2 excessive weeks of work check the blog archives in the end of April 2011. As soon as there is time, I’ll try to bring everything into the right order in a separate article and try to tell as much as i can, for example about the water.

So much from my side - many thanks for your time and patience with me and my little projects :)I hope you like it!Robert

I will first introduce some products to you and will tell a bit about the handling afterwards.

1. Ätztech (casual)

Casual means the normal production line. You can get several different brassed etched products from this range, everyone for its own use. Casual means they are perfect and ready to work with. Here are some examples, also including my personal favourite pieces by Ätztech, the Sci Fi signs.

They are the perfect match to every Sci Fi base in 28 mm. I love the difference in the signs and the stories you can tell with those. Just imagine the "Beware of falling rocks sign" with a Space Marine smashed by a big and heavy rock :) - here comes a detail shot:

In the parcel for this review there was also Nato Wire, which i personally did not yet use, but here comes a photo of it:

2. Ätztech (Rostware)

There is also another product of Ätztech but as far as i know these "Etching Tests" or Rostware are limited on Sale. You can get every product of the range in casual, perfect version - PK-Pro did ship some of them with the parcel for our review and the only difference is the fact that at some places they might be kind of destroyed but when I think about my own bases i mainly destroy everything that i put up there. Here are some more expressions of Ätztech products - this time Rostware:

3. Ätztech Handling

When it comes to the use of those brassed etches i do use several tools. Mainly for cutting and destryoing. Here you can see everything i have used:

I got to say I thought that it would be easier to work with them.
After you cut them out of the sprue you really got to take care as some sharp edges or rests from your cut could harm you. The thickness of the brassed etch is fine at all. My wish was to have them a bit thiner as drilling a hole in one took me a while - but that might also be connected to my weak arms or failing drilling skills without machines to help me. In the end i really got so say i love to use those Sci Fi signs - so far i did only test the Metal sheet and the signs, not more of the products so far as i was only in need to hit a base with these pieces.. easy to handle (i am just weak), easy to glue and looking damn fine:

4. Closing words

I hope you like them as I do. Be sure to check Ätztech for the product you need. The range is growing fast and i can also recommand that you take a look at PK-Pro's overall offers, including bases, tools and MiniNatur.

by Roman aka jar

posted by roman, jarhead, kong

At the moment the Jungle is still working on something big - something big to bring to an end with fine photos... here is a little preview of massive waves rolling in soon - sorry but it takes time to do those damn many photos :)

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Welcome to the Jungle...

... MASSIVE VOODOO’s jungle, where some apes share their thoughts and ideas around their beloved passion, the hobby of miniature painting and sculpting.

Feel welcome to come and check the jungle for tons of articles, interesting tutorials, creative competitions and the simple joy of happy painting hidden behind every tree. We hope that everyone finds their own banana in here, if not do not hesitate to ask the apes. We are more than happy for you to post in the comments section to help turn this jungle into the lush, overgrown painting corner we hope it will become.